Xosé Manuel Beiras facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Xosé Manuel Beiras
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Xosé Manuel Beiras in 2015
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| Member of the Parliament of Galicia | |
| In office 13 November 2012 – 21 October 2016 |
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| Constituency | A Coruña |
| In office 24 November 1985 – 19 June 2005 |
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| Constituency | A Coruña |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Xosé Manuel Hixinio Beiras Torrado
7 April 1936 Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain |
| Died | 8 October 2026 (aged 90) |
| Political party | Galician Socialist Party (1963–1977) Galician Nationalist Bloc (1982–2012) Encontro Irmandiño (2007–2026) Renewal–Nationalist Brotherhood (2012–2026) |
| Spouse |
Aurichu Pereira
(died 2023) |
| Relations | Rodrigo Paz Pereira (nephew-in-law) |
| Education | University of Santiago de Compostela |
| Profession | Economist, Professor, Writer |
Xosé Manuel Hixinio Beiras Torrado was an important Galician leader, teacher, writer, and thinker from Galicia in northwestern Spain. He worked as a university professor of economics. He spent many years helping his homeland as a member of the Galician Parliament. People knew him as a key voice in the Galician Nationalist Bloc and later as the leader of Renewal–Nationalist Brotherhood. Throughout his long career, he wrote many books, taught students, and worked hard to protect Galician culture and the local rights of his community.
Contents
Who Was Xosé Manuel Beiras?
Xosé Manuel Beiras was born on 7 April 1936 in the historic city of Santiago de Compostela. During this time, Spain was going through big changes near the end of the Second Spanish Republic. As a boy, he loved reading books, discovering languages, and learning how communities worked. His home region of Galicia had its own unique language, history, and traditions. Beiras grew up wanting to see his homeland grow strong, modern, and proud of its special identity.
He chose to study law first at the University of Santiago de Compostela, finishing his degree in 1957. Soon after, he decided to explore how money, trade, and work shape communities. This branch of study is called economics. To learn more about this subject, he moved across Europe to study at famous universities. He learned French, explored international ideas, and gathered knowledge that he later brought back to help his neighbors at home.
Academic Life and Studies Across Europe
Learning Around the World
In 1957, Beiras traveled to France to attend the famous University of the Sorbonne in Paris. There, he studied economics alongside French literature. By 1960, he was ready to teach his very first university course on political economy at the Complutense University of Madrid. He enjoyed learning so much that he moved again in 1961, this time to the United Kingdom to study at the London School of Economics.
During the late 1960s, a grant from the Juan March Foundation gave him another big chance to study abroad. He traveled back to Paris to carry out research with a well-known French economist named François Perroux. While living in France, Beiras became very interested in the ideas of Robèrt Lafont. Lafont wrote about how smaller regions can sometimes feel treated unfairly by central governments, an idea known as internal colonialism. Beiras thought this idea explained many problems faced by the people living in Galicia.
Becoming a University Professor
Beiras worked as the vice-director of a special magazine called the Revista de Economia da Galiza from 1963 to 1968. In 1967, an association in New York City gave him an award for his book about rural farming towns. He returned to Galicia permanently in 1968. He accepted a job as an economics university teacher at the University of Santiago de Compostela.
In 1970, Beiras completed his major doctoral paper about the population of Galicia. The university awarded him an Extraordinary Doctoral Prize for this work. He then became an associate professor. In 1972, he wrote an influential study about economic challenges in Galicia. The school asked him to serve as an academic leader of his department, a post he formally held starting in 1975.
Beiras also led major research teams exploring modern farming techniques alongside the University of Montpellier in France. In 1977, he joined the prestigious language organization called the Real Academia Galega. However, he left it in 1982 because he had different ideas about the Galician language, sharing thoughts with scholar Carvalho Calero. By 1980, Beiras reached the top level as head professor of structural economy, teaching many generations of college students.
Work in Politics and Public Service
Early Political Steps
During the rule of Francoist Spain, political parties were not freely allowed to operate. Even so, Beiras helped start the underground Galician Socialist Party in 1963. He was interested in democratic social ideas that aimed to make society fairer for working people. By 1964, he ran the group's international relations. This allowed him to talk with other democratic organizations across Europe.
Beiras became the party's general secretary in 1971. Spain held open democratic elections in 1977 after the death of ruler Francisco Franco. His party did not win many votes in that election, so Beiras stepped down from his post. Yet, he stayed deeply committed to public life and continued looking for better ways to unite people who loved Galicia.
Leading Galician Movements
In 1982, Beiras helped build a larger coalition called the BNG, or the Galician Nationalist Bloc. He joined its leadership board and quickly became a leading figure of Galician nationalism. In 1985, voters elected him to a seat in the regional parliamentary chamber. He spoke strongly for rural towns, local workers, and Galician culture.
Under his leadership, the BNG grew rapidly. In the regional election of 1997, the party achieved its best results up to that time, winning nearly a quarter of all votes. In 2004, Beiras helped build agreements with other regional groups from Catalonia and the Basque Country. These alliances helped regional politicians have a stronger shared voice in the national Spanish Parliament.
Later that year, he chose to step down from running for regional president. Inside his party, he created an internal reform group named Encontro Irmandiño to make meetings more open and democratic. He also supported international cooperation through groups like the World Social Forum and Altermundo. In 1999, he helped create a cultural nonprofit foundation named Galiza Sempre to support public education and regional history. Later in life, he continued his public efforts by leading the political group Renewal–Nationalist Brotherhood.
Writing, Books, and Cultural Work
Love for Books and the Arts
Beiras was not just a politician and an economist; he also loved literature, music, and the arts. He believed that a community stays strong when it reads books written in its own language. Because of this, he helped found two important Galician book companies, Editorial Galaxia and Edicións Laiovento. These publishing houses printed books of poetry, history, science, and stories for local readers.
He wrote regularly for newspapers as a newspaper writer, sharing his opinions with thousands of readers in Galicia Hoxe. He also contributed articles to the paper A Nosa Terra and the famous cultural magazine Grial. Over his lifetime, he published dozens of essays on economics, local history, and government policies.
Translating Great Stories
Beiras wanted Galician readers to enjoy great world literature in their native language. To make this happen, he worked as a translator. In 1959, he worked with writer Xosé Luís Franco Grande to translate the play Antigone by Jean Anouilh. Later, he translated the famous works of French author Albert Camus into Galician, including Camus's famous letters and plays. Through these books, he proved that the Galician language could express complex, beautiful, and serious ideas just like any other language in the world.
Life and Legacy
Beiras lived a long, energetic life dedicated to learning, reading, and helping the people of Galicia. On 8 October 2026, he passed away at the age of 90. People remembered him as an inspiring teacher, a passionate public speaker, and a devoted advocate for his homeland's heritage.
See also
In Spanish: Xosé Manuel Beiras para niños
- Galician nationalism
- Galician Nationalist Bloc
